Fishing
by illjwamh
Summary: Tenchi really needs to clear his head, so when Kiyone invites him to go fishing with her, he gladly accepts.


Okay, this was part of a fic I wrote a long time ago. I mean a _long _time ago. It was back when I first started writing fanfiction and didn't really have a clue as to what the hell I was doing. I scrapped it. But for some reason, I started thinking about this particular part of it, and how it would make a great stand-alone story. So I took it out of mothballs (I actually have a folder called "Mothballs" for old projects), cleaned it up, and put a new beginning and a new ending on it. Tell me what you think, and if you like it, I may just rework old ideas more often. ^_^

Whoops, almost forgot. Tenchi Muyo and its associated characters are the property of AIC and Pioneer. Try as I might, I just couldn't get them to sell it. So I own only the writing. Sucks, huh?

P.S. This story takes place in the TV universe.

Fishing- by Illjwamh

     Early one morning, an enormous yawn escaped the lips of one Tenchi Masaki who, against his own wishes, had remained wide-awake for the majority of the previous night. Just one week prior, he had resolved to put an end to the constant conflict that nearly drove him out of his mind every single day of his life. He knew that such a task would not be easy, and that someone he cared for deeply would be hurt a great deal, but it was something that could not be helped. The internal struggle in Tenchi's mind over which of the hopeful girls living in his home meant the most to him had to come to an end. He had been wrestling with the decision for too long, and could not stand the conflicting emotions any longer. 

     Unfortunately, the decision was even harder to come by than he had originally thought. For one entire week he had been struggling with it now, trying to literally force himself to make a decision. This new commitment on his part had an adverse effect, for it actually intensified the relentless conflict within his mind that he was so determined to rid himself of. No matter how much he thought, he could not choose. For some reason, every time he thought he'd finally made a decision, it didn't seem right and he'd have to start all over again. As a result, he hadn't been getting very much sleep.

     He was just about to make another attempt at drifting off when a wondrous scent wafted in through his barely ajar door and into his nasal receptors. He could not resist the tempting smell of a delicious Sasami breakfast, and willed himself out of bed to begin another long, wearying day.

     "Good morning, Tenchi!" Sasami greeted him in her usual cheerful way as he entered the kitchen. "How are you doing today?"

     "Oh, I'm fine Sasami," he half-lied as he sat in the only remaining empty seat: between Ryoko and Ayeka as always.

     "That's good," the little princess replied. "Here, I kept your breakfast warm for you."

     "Thank you, Sasami," he said as he began to eat his breakfast. Ryoko and Ayeka were sitting a lot closer to him than usual, and he was getting nervous fast. Before either of them could say anything, however, his dad piped in with an announcement.

     "I have some bad news, everybody," he began. "It seems my client is in a bit of a hurry, and he's moving up my deadline. I guess we won't be able to go to Tokyo."

     Moans of complaint came from all mouths. They had been planning this trip for over a week.

     "Oh, and I was really looking forward to it!" whined Mihoshi.

     "Yeah, me too," added Kiyone. "I got time off work and everything."

     "I'm sorry, gang. I guess we'll just have to do it another time." Noboyuki had as big a frown as any of them. He was really looking forward to a break from his work.

     "Why don't just the rest of us go?" suggested Ryoko.

     "Now Ryoko, that wouldn't be very nice to Dad. Especially considering it was his idea in the first place." Tenchi seemed a little annoyed.

     "Besides, we don't have any money." Washu chimed in. "Noboyuki's the one with the paycheck around here, remember?"

     "Oh yeah." Ryoko rescinded her suggestion.

     "Well, I'm not about to let a good three days off go to waste," Kiyone said. "I think I'm gonna go fishing. Anybody care to join me?"

     "I'll go," Tenchi said. He needed a chance to clear his head, and a few days out in the wilderness seemed like a good idea. Nobody else seemed interested. Even Ryoko and Ayeka didn't seem to realize that this meant Tenchi wouldn't be around for a few days. 

     "All right, Tenchi. Get your stuff together, 'cuz we'll be leaving early tomorrow morning." She was happy to have someone to go fishing with. She liked going by herself, but it was nice to have some company out there every once in a while. It was even nicer that that someone was Tenchi. She really enjoyed spending time with him. He was one of the few guys in her life that she had ever gotten along with really well. With perhaps the exception of Mihoshi, he was probably her best friend.

*          *            *

     The next morning, Tenchi was up bright and early. Of course, that was because he couldn't recall ever getting to sleep in the first place. In fact, except for he and Kiyone, Noboyuki was the only other one awake.

     "I didn't know you got up this early, Dad," Tenchi remarked upon meeting his father in the kitchen.

     "I don't," Noboyuki replied, obviously annoyed at not happy about having to get up. "I have to get in to the office early this morning, this client is really pushing."

     "Gee, that's too bad, Dad." Tenchi fixed himself a quick breakfast and an extra large cup of coffee, and Kiyone did the same (sans the coffee).

     "So what are you doing up so early this morning, Tenchi?"

     "Kiyone and I are going fishing, remember?"

      "Oh that's right."

     "Yep," Kiyone chimed in, "and I'm going to show Tenchi my secret fishing spot. No one else has ever seen it." She took a drink of her orange juice.

     "Well you kids have fun!" Noboyuki yelled back as he headed out the door. "Catch a big one for me!"

     "Sure thing, Mr. Masaki!" she yelled after him. She looked at her watch. "C'mon Tenchi, we'd better get going too."

     "Right behind you!" he said as he finished off his own beverage. The pair picked up their gear, which they had set next to the door the night before, and trodded out into the early morning sun.

*          *            *

     "It's just over this next mountain, Tenchi," Kiyone said after they had been hiking for a couple of hours. Tenchi was incredibly relieved. He wasn't even aware they had this much wilderness around here.

     "It's no surprise to me that nobody's seen this place," he joked, "they couldn't survive the trip!"

     "Oh, come on Tenchi!" she teased. "Are you saying that after all you've been through, a little hike is too much?"

     "Not just a little hike, but a hike through the mountains with twenty pounds of gear on my back!"

     "Well, you won't have to do it again for a while," she said. "I think this is going to have to be the last fishing trip of the year."

     "Why do you say that?" he asked.

     "It's getting too cold. Autumn comes swiftly around here. Sure, we've got nice summer weather now, but by the time I can get some time off again, we'll be halfway to winter!"

     "Well then, we'd better make this one count!" he smiled at her.

     "And just how do you plan to do that?" she asked with a smirk on her face. He came back with one of his own.

     "I'm not sure just yet, but I promise you this will be not just any fishing trip."

     They continued talking and laughing until they got to the top of the mountain. Then Tenchi stood dumbfounded before the most beautiful scene he had ever set eyes upon. They were looking down at a valley lined with gorgeous green trees, and there was a sparkling blue lake in the middle. The sky was clear, with not a single cloud in sight. 

     "Wow!" was all he could get out at first. "I can see why you love coming here so much, Kiyone. I only have one question."

     "And what's that, Tenchi?" she asked in an only somewhat curious tone.

     "How do you ever find the will power to leave this spot and go down there?"

     "Oh, it's very simple, Tenchi. Just walk backward for the first couple of steps." She laughed as she said this.

     "Now you're just mocking me." Tenchi laughed with her.

     "No, I'm completely serious," she said. "Come on!" And with that, the two began walking backward down the slope. Tenchi wasn't quite sure, but he still suspected that she was just humoring him.

     After they had gone about ten feet, they turned around again.

     "There, that wasn't so hard, was it Tenchi?"

     "You were right, Kiyone. It's a lot easier to leave a beautiful spot if you can't see it." 

     They picked up on the conversation they had been having before reaching the summit, and they continued talking and laughing until they got down to the lake. It was a much grander scene than the lake back at the house, and Tenchi chuckled and briefly wondered if this one had also been formed by a crashing spaceship. As he looked over to his left, he saw what appeared to be a very elaborate lean-to a few yards back from the lake's shore.

     "Whoa!" He said as his eyes fell upon the structure that almost deserved to be called a cabin. "You really do come here a lot, don't you?"

     "It'll be pretty close quarters in there," she confessed to him. "I hope you don't mind." Tenchi had to suppress a nosebleed at the thought of sleeping in cramped quarters with a woman like Kiyone. 

     "No, I don't mind," he answered as casually as he could.

     "Good," she smiled. "Then let's unpack. We can have some lunch, and then set about doing what we came here to do." She took off her pack and began unloading her supplies. Tenchi followed suit. He was quite relieved indeed to remove the overbearingly heavy burden from his shoulders. After about five minutes or so, they were unpacked and had begun to eat their lunches. 

     "How did you ever find this place, Kiyone?" Tenchi asked as he ate.

     "Believe it or not," she replied, "I found it by accident. I was bringing Yagami in to land, and my landing coordinates messed up. I landed in the woods over there," she pointed to a clearing back behind them a ways, "and it took me three days to even figure out exactly where I was. It was another day before I fixed Yagami to the point where I could take off again. I built the 'cabin' on that first night, and when I needed food, I discovered the fish here were magnificent."

     "Wow," was all Tenchi could say.

     "I know. What luck, huh? Well, speaking of fishing, I think I'm in the mood for some right now. Care to join me?"

     "Lead the way." 

     They got up, gathered their fishing gear, and then headed over to the lake. Kiyone lead him to a big rock that protruded out over the lake. When they got to the end, Tenchi figured they were about 15 feet from the shore, and about 7 feet above the water.

     "How deep is the water here, Kiyone?" he asked curiously.

     "Well, it's deep enough to dive into, that's all I know." She cast her line out into the water, and Tenchi did the same. After about 45 minutes, nothing had happened yet.

     "Geez, the fish must not be hungry today," Tenchi's boredom was evident is this statement.

     "You just have to be patient, Tenchi. Sometimes it takes a while." She was used to this, but she could see how Tenchi might get tired of it after a while. She was just about to suggest that they take a break when she saw Tenchi's line moving. "Tenchi!" she yelled. "You've got one!"

     "I'll say!" Tenchi was on his feet, having almost been pulled into the water. "A little help?"

     "Aw," she teased. "Too big for you, Ten…whoa!" She had to grab him around the waist to keep him from flying out into the lake.

     "Are you kidding me?" he said. "This thing's gotta be bigger than Washu's tombaar whale!" The two of them struggled to hold onto the pole, but they were sliding toward the edge of the rock.

     "Looks like we might be going for a swim!" yelled Tenchi over his shoulder as he continued to struggle with the enormous fish.

     "Not if I can help it!" Kiyone yelled back. "I've never lost a fight to a fish, and I'm not about to start now! On three, we pull like there's no tomorrow. One…two…_three!" The two of them leaned back and pulled with all of their might, and the giant fish came soaring out of the water, flew right over their heads, and landed behind them with a big "splat!"___

_     After taking a moment to catch her breath, Kiyone looked at the fish. It was taller than Tenchi, and it would take both of their arms to get around it!_

     "Not a bad fish you got there, Tenchi. I reckon we can take the rest of the day off."

     Tenchi still could not believe the size of the fish. However, he was perplexed by what Kiyone had said.

     "What do you mean 'take the day off?' I thought that's what we were doing."

     "Well you see, Tenchi, all the fish we catch here we have to either eat while we're here or carry home. Judging by how hard it was pulling this guy out of the water, I'm betting he'll be a heavy load for the hike back. This means that any other fish we catch we have to eat. I'd like to do a little more today, but frankly I'm not really that hungry. Are you?"

     "I see your point," he said. "But what do we do for the rest of the day?"

     She had a mischievous smile on her face. "Come on, Tenchi. I'll show you."

     With that, she got up and headed into the forest, with a confused Tenchi following close behind her. That afternoon, Tenchi learned of more things to do in the forest than he ever knew existed. It was the most fun he'd had in the woods in a long time. When they got back to camp, it was getting dark.

     "Better call it a night," Kiyone said. "Let's have some dinner and then turn in." They feasted upon fresh fish, and then put the rest in a collapsible cooler that Washu had made for them. They prepared themselves for a good night's sleep. When they set up their sleeping bags, Tenchi noticed that they were practically right on top of each other in the tiny shelter. He had to suppress another nosebleed as he lay himself down into his sleeping bag, and Kiyone lay down in hers right next to him.

     "Good night, Tenchi," she said softly, for she was already falling asleep. It had been a long day.

     "Good night, Kiyone," he whispered back, and then lay his head down on his own pillow. Surprisingly, he had no trouble at all getting to sleep. He drifted off within a few minutes, and slumbered on peacefully until the next morning.

*          *            *

     When Tenchi finally stirred, he noticed that Kiyone was already awake. She poked her head in at him.

     "Good morning, sleepyhead, breakfast is ready!" she smiled cheerily.

     "Geez, with you around, who needs Sasami?" he laughed as he rolled out of bed and caught the delicious aroma of a wonderful breakfast.

     "Tenchi Masaki, are you mocking me?" she had a wry grin on her face, and a spatula in her hand. She used it to fling Tenchi's breakfast at him. However, Tenchi's training wasn't all for nothing. He caught it, and proceeded to eat as if nothing out of the ordinary had happened.

     "Of course not!" he defended himself, having the same wry grin that she was wearing. The two of them playfully argued throughout breakfast, and then headed back up to the rock, Tenchi feeling more alert and refreshed than he had in a week.

     "You think we'll catch anything today?" Tenchi asked.

     "Hard to say," she replied. "I doubt we'll top yesterday, though."

*          *            *

     All in all, the day did not quite match up to the previous one. Kiyone caught five fish and Tenchi caught three, but none of them were any bigger than eight inches. They were carrying the day's catch back down to the campsite, when Tenchi presented an interesting idea.

     "Do you think that big fish just ate all the other fish in the lake, and that's why he's so huge?"

     "Could be," Kiyone laughed. "That would explain why we haven't caught very many. Usually this lake is teeming with fish. I've sometimes caught over fifteen in one day."  
     "So that's where Sasami gets all that fish she cooks with."

     "Yep. I've joked about charging for them, but I don't think I could compete with the fish market in town."

     They walked back to camp, and made a fabulous dinner for themselves. They went to bed a little earlier that evening, so as to get up all the earlier the next morning. Their plan didn't work out too well, though. Once they got into their sleeping bags, they just stayed up for half the night talking. By the time they actually went to sleep, Tenchi's watch said it was after two in the morning. Tenchi thought it odd how it had gotten so late so quickly without either of them noticing.

*          *            *

     They woke up late, about ten o'clock by Tenchi's watch. Kiyone got up before him again, and was waiting for him when he came out. She was wearing a white T-shirt, ad blue jean shorts cut off above her knees.  It was funny, Tenchi thought. He rarely saw Kiyone dressed that casual. It was like seeing Ayeka in an old shirt and worn jeans. 

     She's been dressed that way for the whole trip he thought. I guess I just haven't noticed it before.

     "What are you looking at, Tenchi?" his thoughts were interrupted by her question.

     "Oh, nothing," he said quickly, trying to cover for himself. "It's just, I don't see you dressed like this very often."

     She smiled. "It's a whole different side of me, Tenchi." With that, she went back to her breakfast.

     When they finished eating, they returned to their spot on the rock. "This time, we're going to get a decent catch," Kiyone said, and cast her line into the water.

     They waited for what seemed like forever, but nothing came. Surprisingly, it was Kiyone who broke the waiting.

     "All right, I'm tired of this," she said as she pulled out her line and set it down on the rock. "I'm going for a swim." She stood up and dove into the water. She looked up at Tenchi, who was a little surprised at this. "C'mon in, Tenchi! The water's great!!"

     Tenchi hesitated for a moment. The thought of Kiyone swimming in just a T-shirt and shorts was a bit much. For the third time on this trip, he had to suppress a nosebleed. Then he shook his head quickly and mentally scolded himself.

     What's wrong with you? Kiyone's your friend! So knock it off and go jump in the lake! He did as his inner voice commanded, and dove into the water.

     "AIEEEEE!" he yelped as soon as he reached the surface.

     Kiyone was laughing at him. "It's a little cold, but I figured you could handle it!"

     Tenchi looked at her with that mischievous face. "Oh, you'll pay for that!" He began splashing her, and she splashed back. Then, she swam up to him and dunked him. Instead of flailing around like most people do, he pulled her under with him. They wrestled around for a minute, and then came back to the surface.

     "That's what you get for trying to dunk me!" Tenchi laughed and splashed her again.

     Kiyone shielded her face from the splash. "Is that all you can do? Come on, show me what you've got!" She rushed at him again, and then tackled him. They rolled around in the water for a bit, and then broke apart and started splashing each other again.

     And so it continued for the rest of the afternoon. Neither one of them being human, they had the endurance to stay in the water for a fairly long time. It was Tenchi who finally noticed when the sun started to sink behind the trees.

     "Whoa! Kiyone, I think we'd better get back, it's getting pretty late."  
     She looked up at the sky. "You're right, Tenchi! We'd better get back quick, or we're going to go to bed wet."

     They headed back to shore, and it soon turned into a race. When they finally got there, it was proclaimed a draw, but they had to sit on the edge in the water for a moment to catch their breath. Kiyone was the first to stand up. When she did, her wet clothes clung to her. This time there was no holding it back, the nosebleed came. Fortunately, Kiyone didn't seem to notice, and he was able to stop it rather quickly. Still, she looked absolutely incredible in the light of the sunset.

     Kiyone looked over at him. "Whaddya say we stay out and watch the sunset, Tenchi?"

     Tenchi smiled and concealed a little gulp. "Sure."

     So the two of the sat together on the lakeshore and watched the sun go down. When it was over, they used what little light remained to change into some dry clothes. However, the temperature had dropped quite a bit and there was a slight breeze going and they were still cold. They had to huddle together even closer than usual to keep warm in the shelter. Neither of them talked much that night, they were too busy trying to keep each other warm. When sleep finally did come, they whispered goodnight to each other and drifted off.

     It was Tenchi who woke up first the next morning. When he did, he didn't go anywhere for a while. He looked over at his friend. She looks so cute when she sleeps. The thought had come unbidden, but Tenchi was only slightly surprised at himself..

     After a few minutes, Kiyone woke up too. She pretended she didn't see Tenchi looking at her.

     "Hey Tenchi, what's up?" she asked with a sweet smile on her face.

     Tenchi sweatdropped. "Oh, I was just trying to figure out how long it'll take us to get back to the house today."

     "Well, it'll take a lot longer than it took us to get here, considering we'll be carrying back a load of fish."

     Tenchi got up and hoisted his pack onto his back. "We'd better get going, then." The two of them said farewell to their campsite, and headed back towards home. They stopped again at the summit overlooking the valley, and had to force themselves to leave. They talked about the trip, and how everyone would react to the leviathan they were bringing back with them, most of which still remained uneaten.

     Kiyone had been right; the journey home was much longer than the first one had been. It was already lunchtime, and they weren't even in a familiar part of the forest yet. They ate a quick lunch, and then quickly set off again. Tenchi wasn't sure how much longer it would take, but he was looking forward to Sasami's cooking and wanted to be back by dinnertime.

     Kiyone noticed Tenchi's hurry. "C'mon Tenchi, if we go this way it's a little faster." She led him onto a path a little bit to the right. "The only reason we didn't go this way earlier was because there's generally a lot of bugs. Come to think of it though, there'll probably be a lot less of them this time of year."

     They headed off in the new direction, and Tenchi was praying they wouldn't run into the bugs Kiyone had mentioned. After another hour, Kiyone noticed that he was still on the lookout for swarms of insects. She chuckled to herself.

     "You don't have to worry anymore, Tenchi. We passed through that area, and we're back on the main path now. We should be home in about twenty minutes or so."

     Tenchi looked around and realized that he recognized their surroundings. He felt a little embarrassed.

     "So this is the end of our trip, eh?" he glanced at her again. "I had a lot of fun, Kiyone."

     She smiled back at him. "Yeah, me too Tenchi."

     For some reason, that smile brought the faintest hint of a blush to his face. He mentally chided himself. It's no like I don't have enough to think about lately!

     What are you talking about? another part of his mind quipped. Kiyone's just your friend. You've got nothing to worry about!

     Oh really? Then why did she catch me looking at her this morning? We've always been close friends, but something feels different all of a sudden.

     He looked at her again. It was then that he realized what was different. He hadn't thought about ending his inner conflict for the entire three days! Moreover, the conflict had apparently ceased to exist! It was as if he really had taken a break from life. He didn't know exactly what to make of this new discovery, so he stayed silent for the rest of the way back to the house.

     When they at last arrived, everyone rushed out to greet them. Ryoko wanted to glomp on Tenchi, but she saw he was tired so she just gave him a big hug. Ayeka did the same, but her hug wasn't quite as big. When everyone had said hello, they all headed back inside.

     Sasami turned around and saw Tenchi and Kiyone lagging behind. "C'mon you two! I'm just about to start dinner! I'll make a big one tonight!" With that, the little princess ran off merrily into the house.

     "I think I'll have a soak in the onsen before dinner." Kiyone said. "What about you, Tenchi?"

     "I think I'm going to go take a nap."

     "Sounds like a good idea. I guess I'll see you at dinner. And Tenchi?"

     "Yes?"

     "Thanks for a great trip." She gave him a quick kiss on the cheek, then headed off into the house before he even had time to bring his hand up in surprise to touch the place where her lips had been.

*          *            *

     Tenchi snapped his head up, and looked at his surroundings. He was in his bedroom, and a familiar delicious smell was still wafting through his barely ajar door.

     Wait! It was all a dream? The thought that a dream spanning an entire three days had just gone by in a matter of minutes was the least alarming portion of this revelation. He looked around again to make sure, and gingerly brought his had up to that spot on his cheek. Sure enough, it had been a dream. The clock on his bedside desk put any doubts he may have had remaining to rest. Tenchi blinked a few times before slowly getting out of bed, as if he didn't know what to think about anything at the moment, and try as he might he couldn't get the images from the dream out of his head. He decided he'd better figure out what it meant, or it would only add to the metal turmoil he had been dealing with for the past week. He made his way to the hallway ever so slowly, his hand reaching up to that spot on his cheek one final time before he headed downstairs for breakfast.

*          *            *

     At precisely the same time in an apartment located several kilometers from the Masaki home, Kiyone Makibi awoke with a start. Her heart was beating slightly faster than normal, and her face had a hint of a blush on it. She'd never had a dream like _that_ before.

So what'd ya think? Good? Great? Horrible? Let me know, cuz without comments I'll never get better!

Please send all C&C to illjwamh@yahoo.com


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